A truly wild hobby

Two local men hand-craft calls for game hunters

Louis Guidroz uses a lathe to shape a duck call on Thursday at his home in Northport, where he makes duck, deer, turkey and elk calls.

Dusty Compton | The Tuscaloosa News

By Margaret ClevengerSpecial to The Tuscaloosa News

Published: Friday, December 28, 2012 at 3:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, December 28, 2012 at 12:35 a.m.

The “gobble, gobble, gobble” sound from Butch Barnes’ turkey call was too much for the big tom to resist. He left his hens to investigate and became the main course on the Barnes’ family dinner table.

“He was one of the best turkeys I had ever killed,” Barnes said of the eastern turkey he bagged two years ago in Alabama. “He was really a beautiful, big, long-spurred, long-bearded turkey.”

The Tuscaloosa resident has also hunted the wild gobblers in other parts of the country and has bagged an Osceola turkey in Florida, and a Rio Grande turkey in Oklahoma. He has his heart set on one more.

“I just lack the one that is out in the Rocky Mountains, which is the Merriam,” he said. “They have feathers that are tipped in white, and they are absolutely gorgeous. When I get one of those, that will give me a grand slam.”

But Barnes doesn’t hunt as much as he used to, preferring to call for other hunters now. “I especially like to go with first-timers,” he said. “That’s a lot of fun.”

Hunting wild turkeys is a challenging sport, so having the right turkey call is important. Barnes has been making his own calls for 35 years.

The animal calls hand-crafted by Barnes and Northport resident Louis Guidroz can be found at the Makers Market at 401 22nd Ave. in downtown Tuscaloosa.

Barnes now crafts his calls mostly from wood that he turns on his lathe, with some antler thrown in when he can find it. But when he started his sideline 35 years ago, Barnes used W.E. Garrett snuff cans.

“They are the half-ounce snuff cans that were popular with our grandmothers and great-grandmothers way back,” he said. The cans are about the size of a black film canister that holds 35 mm photography film.

“I had been buying them since the mid-1970s, a case of 24 cans at a time, tobacco and all. I decided to call them, just on a whim, to see if I could buy some empty cans.”

That’s when Barnes discovered that the company was discontinuing the snuff containers. He still has a dozen cans, with the seals unbroken, that he is keeping for souvenirs.

Whether from a block of wood or an old snuff can, each turkey call that Barnes makes is unique. On some of his calls, he hand-paints a detailed bust of a wild turkey with accurate colors in the bright red wattle, blue face and white-topped head. The pieces are works of art as well as functional turkey calls.

“I’ve had real good fortune with these calls over the years,” Barnes said.

“The tables are turned,” he said of turkey hunting. “You’re calling and the animal is hunting you.”

Guidroz stopped hunting deer after his son moved out of state. But the Northport resident crafts a variety of animal calls for hunters to use.

Guidroz makes duck calls, elk calls, squirrel calls and most any other kind of call one can imagine.

“The people around here hunt all kinds of different game, so I wanted to have something that would appeal to different people,” he said.

The Lafayette, La., native said he comes from a long line of woodworkers, so turning a block of wood on his lathe feels natural to him.

“My dad, who passed away in May, was a true carpenter,” Guidroz said. “He told me that the men in our family had always been woodworkers and farmers.”

Turning animal calls on his lathe is a hobby that lets Guidroz combine his love of the outdoors with his passion for woodworking.

“And it’s a hobby I can do right here at the house,” he said. “I don’t have to go to the golf course or the lake or the hunting club.”

Guidroz does not use a template, but when starts turning a block of wood he usually has a rough idea of what he wants the finished product to look like.

He fashions his calls from various types of wood including hardwoods like walnut, or small pieces of cedar that he has found. He also purchases stock from a company in Maine where he buys laminated wood that has striations of light and dark colors, which lend the piece an exotic look.

After Guidroz turns the wood into the shape he wants, he applies an antique oil finish and wax, or a sanding sealer or lacquer finish and wax. “That makes it really high gloss,” he said. “It smooths it out and makes it shine.”

Guidroz inherited his father’s tools and says he plans to keep working with them. “I want to keep them alive,” he said.

His son, Garrett, also works with wood as a hobby. “He’s very good at it and it’s special to me that he does it.”

Now that Guidroz has a 1-year-old grandson, Austin, there could be a dynasty in the making.

<p>The “gobble, gobble, gobble” sound from Butch Barnes' turkey call was too much for the big tom to resist. He left his hens to investigate and became the main course on the Barnes' family dinner table.</p><p>“He was one of the best turkeys I had ever killed,” Barnes said of the eastern turkey he bagged two years ago in Alabama. “He was really a beautiful, big, long-spurred, long-bearded turkey.”</p><p>The Tuscaloosa resident has also hunted the wild gobblers in other parts of the country and has bagged an Osceola turkey in Florida, and a Rio Grande turkey in Oklahoma. He has his heart set on one more. </p><p>“I just lack the one that is out in the Rocky Mountains, which is the Merriam,” he said. “They have feathers that are tipped in white, and they are absolutely gorgeous. When I get one of those, that will give me a grand slam.” </p><p>But Barnes doesn't hunt as much as he used to, preferring to call for other hunters now. “I especially like to go with first-timers,” he said. “That's a lot of fun.”</p><p>Hunting wild turkeys is a challenging sport, so having the right turkey call is important. Barnes has been making his own calls for 35 years.</p><p>The animal calls hand-crafted by Barnes and Northport resident Louis Guidroz can be found at the Makers Market at 401 22nd Ave. in downtown Tuscaloosa. </p><p>Barnes now crafts his calls mostly from wood that he turns on his lathe, with some antler thrown in when he can find it. But when he started his sideline 35 years ago, Barnes used W.E. Garrett snuff cans. </p><p>“They are the half-ounce snuff cans that were popular with our grandmothers and great-grandmothers way back,” he said. The cans are about the size of a black film canister that holds 35 mm photography film.</p><p>“I had been buying them since the mid-1970s, a case of 24 cans at a time, tobacco and all. I decided to call them, just on a whim, to see if I could buy some empty cans.” </p><p>That's when Barnes discovered that the company was discontinuing the snuff containers. He still has a dozen cans, with the seals unbroken, that he is keeping for souvenirs. </p><p>Whether from a block of wood or an old snuff can, each turkey call that Barnes makes is unique. On some of his calls, he hand-paints a detailed bust of a wild turkey with accurate colors in the bright red wattle, blue face and white-topped head. The pieces are works of art as well as functional turkey calls.</p><p>“I've had real good fortune with these calls over the years,” Barnes said.</p><p>“The tables are turned,” he said of turkey hunting. “You're calling and the animal is hunting you.” </p><p>Guidroz stopped hunting deer after his son moved out of state. But the Northport resident crafts a variety of animal calls for hunters to use.</p><p>Guidroz makes duck calls, elk calls, squirrel calls and most any other kind of call one can imagine.</p><p>“The people around here hunt all kinds of different game, so I wanted to have something that would appeal to different people,” he said.</p><p>The Lafayette, La., native said he comes from a long line of woodworkers, so turning a block of wood on his lathe feels natural to him.</p><p>“My dad, who passed away in May, was a true carpenter,” Guidroz said. “He told me that the men in our family had always been woodworkers and farmers.”</p><p>Turning animal calls on his lathe is a hobby that lets Guidroz combine his love of the outdoors with his passion for woodworking. </p><p>“And it's a hobby I can do right here at the house,” he said. “I don't have to go to the golf course or the lake or the hunting club.”</p><p>Guidroz does not use a template, but when starts turning a block of wood he usually has a rough idea of what he wants the finished product to look like.</p><p>He fashions his calls from various types of wood including hardwoods like walnut, or small pieces of cedar that he has found. He also purchases stock from a company in Maine where he buys laminated wood that has striations of light and dark colors, which lend the piece an exotic look. </p><p>After Guidroz turns the wood into the shape he wants, he applies an antique oil finish and wax, or a sanding sealer or lacquer finish and wax. “That makes it really high gloss,” he said. “It smooths it out and makes it shine.” </p><p>Guidroz inherited his father's tools and says he plans to keep working with them. “I want to keep them alive,” he said.</p><p>His son, Garrett, also works with wood as a hobby. “He's very good at it and it's special to me that he does it.”</p><p>Now that Guidroz has a 1-year-old grandson, Austin, there could be a dynasty in the making.</p><p>“I'm hoping he carries it on, too,” Guidroz said.</p>